Outstanding BELL Scholars   

Selected as 2006 Red Sox Scholars

June 2, 2006, Dorchester, MA - BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life), the Boston Red Sox, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) are proud to announce that twenty-five outstanding 5th grade students from Boston Public elementary schools have been selected as 2006 Red Sox Scholars and will be honored in a special on-field ceremony at Fenway Park held before the Red Sox play the Rangers on Friday, June 9, 2006.

These 25 students have been chosen as Scholars based on their dedication to their education, their commitment to their future, and their positive attitude towards school and life.

As Red Sox Scholars, each student will receive a $5,000 college scholarship and, during his or her 6th grade year, will be paired with a “medical champion” from BIDMC, who introduces each scholar to careers in health care.  Scholars will have the opportunity to participate in special programs and events at Fenway Park and BIDMC throughout middle school and high school.

The Scholars will also be honored in an on-field ceremony at Fenway Park on June 9th at approximately 6:30 PM.  The ceremony, which will be broadcast live on NESN, will honor each Scholar individually with his or her medical champion.  The Scholars will be escorted onto the field by Red Sox players, where they will be congratulated by executives from the Red Sox, BELL, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Boston Public Schools.  The 75 Red Sox Scholars from the classes of 2003, 2004, and 2005 will also participate in the ceremony.

BELL offers after-school and summer programs for more than 8,000 elementary school children in 40 public school sites throughout Boston, New York, Baltimore, and Washington, DC.  Our focus is on math, literacy, and building strong relationships between children and positive adult role models to foster self-respect and social skills.  BELL programs expose scholars to experiential learning through field trips, guest speakers and community service; provide support for parents to more deeply engage in their children's education; and include rigorous evaluation and assessment tools to ensure continual improvement and success for children.

BELL's trademark is results for scholars.  For example, in each of the last five years, every child who entered BELL at the "failing" level advanced to a higher performance category by the end of the program.  In 2005, more than 80 percent achieved "proficient" or "advanced" levels in core skills.  This summer, through a partnership with the Charles Hayden Foundation, BELL is launching a program designed specifically for Black and Latino boys (www.bellnational.org/program/specialInitiatives.htm).

BELL is extremely proud of the accomplishments of it nearly 8,000 BELL scholars and we hope that you will share our pride in this special recognition of the 2006 Red Sox Scholars.

For additional information about BELL, visit www.bellnational.org or contact Kathryn Powell (kpowell@bellnational.org).  For more information about the Red Sox Scholars program, visit http://www.bellnational.org/program/RedSoxScholars.htm.  For information regarding BELL's annual Field of Dreams gala held at Fenway Park on June 26, please visit http://www.bellnational.org/news_events/events.htm.